


To Never Part

by Alley_Skywalker



Category: Romeo And Juliet - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Can be read as gen, Clone Wars, Force Bond (Star Wars), Gen, Jedi, Light Angst, M/M, ship implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22783360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alley_Skywalker/pseuds/Alley_Skywalker
Summary: Romeo and Mercutio catch up after being separated for months and Mercutio proposes they do something to alleviate the anxiety of being separated again.
Relationships: Mercutio & Romeo Montague, Mercutio/Romeo Montague
Kudos: 5





	To Never Part

Romeo’s cloak blew in the cool wind of Coruscant’s cold season. The viewing platform overlooked a swath of cityscape half-submerged in clouds and mist. His hands were slowly going numb as he gripped the durasteel railing. _Don’t stand in the wind, Padawan._ Romeo smiled sadly at the memory of his master’s voice. That was exactly what he would tell him now if he could, if he hadn’t been struck down by a Sep. blaster in the largest clusterfuck of a battle Romeo had ever—

“Romeo! Romeo!”

Romeo turned to see Mercutio running toward him, waving his arms as though he was hoping they would suddenly become wings and allow him to fly. Romeo grinned and opened his arms for his friend, burying his face in Mercutio’s shoulder as they embraced. He had been gone for so long, apparent in how his neat regulation haircut had begun to grow out into the soft curls Romeo remembered from their childhood. “I’m so glad you’re back.” Romeo mumbled into his shoulder. 

Mercutio withdrew and looked into Romeo’s face studying him. “Took me long enough to find you. I’m sorry, Ro. I heard about your master.” 

Romeo winced and looked away. “Benvolio told me to meditate—”

“That’s Ben’s answer to everything,” Mercutio scoffed, without any real malice. “Where is he anyway?”

“Shipped out last night to Tros.”

Mercutio’s face fell. “Already?” He bit his lip at Romeo’s nod. “I suppose it was too much to hope for a reunion. Well.” He stepped back and squeezed Romeo’s shoulders, not quite ready to let go. 

“How long will you be planet-side?”

“A week at most. Depends if things remain quiet in the Mid Rim. Which, well…” Mercutio shrugged. He turned to look out at the cityscape, his and Romeo’s shoulders still pressed together tightly enough that Romeo could feel him shiver. 

“How was this last mission? I got almost no comms from you—”

“Interference—”

“I know. Did you get to see Kenobi and Skywalker?”

Mercutio grinned. Talking about Anakin Skywalker, just newly knighted, was a favorite pastime of Mercutio’s as of late. Benvolio teased him about it, although they all knew that Ben had his own role model in Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was simply less obvious about it than Mercutio, who was obvious about everything. “It was—awesome!”

“What’s he like as a person?”

“Master Skywalker?”

“Yea.”

“Terrible little shit. I don’t know how his master managed to stand him for all those years.” Mercutio was grinning. 

Romeo smirked. “I don’t know how _your_ master can stand _you_.” 

Mercutio gave him a small, playful shove. “But seriously. I’ve never seen anyone fight like him. You know, I was always a little uncertain—”

“You? Uncertain?”

“—about choosing Djem So for my form, but I was right. I was so right.” 

Romeo smiled fondly at him. It was nice to see Mercutio so brightly, innocently excited about something. So often these days he was bitter and cynical. Angry even. Romeo knew it was the darkness in the Force. They all felt it all the time. Benvolio somehow managed to meditate it away, but most people couldn’t do that. 

“That’s going to be us one day you know?” Mercutio was saying, still looking out over the city. “You and me…and Ben, of course. The Jedi team everyone is talking about.” 

“Hopefully, the war will be over by then,” Romeo said. “Anyway, I don’t know why you were ever uncertain about Djem So. You could probably do any form.” He looked down at his hands, red from the cold. Romeo stuffed them into the pockets of his robes. “I, on the other hand, should have chosen Soresu like Ben. Or Makashi.” 

Mercutio made a face. “Makashi is horrible against blasters. And, no, thank you for giving me the joy of Ben’s face when you told him you chose Ataru.” 

“He really waned me to do Soresu.”

“Boring. Love Ben – but Soresu is _boring._ ” 

Mercutio met Romeo’s eyes and they said in unison, imitating Obi-Wan’s Kenobi’s Coruscant accent, “Lightsaber forms are means of combat not entertainment.” They burst out laughing and for the first time in days, Romeo felt the weight on his chest lighten, if only a little. 

“Force, only Ben could ever say that with a straight face,” Mercutio said. 

Romeo closed his eyes. “I hope he’s aright out there.” He reached out into the Force, automatically probing for Benvolio’s familiar signature. 

After a moment of silence, Mercutio said, not meeting Romeo’s eyes, “You shouldn’t be upset you chose Ataru. If anyone can pull it off, you can.”

“What?” Romeo looked over at his friend with some uncertainty. He had always considered himself somewhat foolish for choosing such a demanding form, that required both physical excellence and a strong connection with the Force. Romeo had always regarded himself as being mediocre at both. He didn’t have either Mercutio’s natural combat talent, nor Benvolio’s ability to master meditation and Force exercises. He was never sure why he had chosen it. Part of him thought that it was because Ataru had been Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn’s form, but that seemed odd as a reasoning. Somehow the form had simply called to him, even though his own master had been skeptical when Romeo had named Ataru as his choice. 

“Out of the three of us, you’re probably the most Force sensitive. The most…capable.” 

Romeo furrowed his eyebrows suspiciously. “Is there a reason you’re flattering me, Mercutio? Just as might come out with it…”

Mercutio looked over at him and Romeo was stunned by how serious his expression was. “Does that sound like something I’d do? I’m serious.” 

Romeo bit the inside of his cheek. “Mercutio… I wasn’t even chosen until I was twelve. I was starting to think it was going to be the AgriCorps for me. Everyone wanted you. Ben was recommended by Master Kenobi – though I know he wasn’t then what he is now – and me? No one wanted me.” 

Mercutio flushed and there was that annoyed look in his eyes Romeo recognized as righteous frustration. “That’s because the only thing anyone in this Order cares about is fighting skills and the Unifying Force. Meditate and all will be well. And if you can’t, then at least swing a ‘saber well. But you’ve got the Living Force with you, Romeo. You’re the only one who can not just touch it but….direct it.” 

Romeo felt the back of his throat go dry. He hadn’t thought… “You read the holopamphlet I gave you?” he asked, a little amazed. 

Mercutio nodded. “Yes.” 

“But it doesn’t work like that. Everyone has the Living Force. It’s not something you have or don’t… The Force is the Force.” 

“Sure. But it’s harder to balance with the Code. It’s harder to direct it, to understand it. Nor just theoretically from hours in the Archives, but intuitively.” Mercutio looked away again, suddenly embarrassed as he muttered, “Trust me, I tried.” He reached out and fumbled for Romeo’s hand. “But for you…it’s just who you are. You’re the only person I know, not specifically being trained as a healer, who can do the things I’ve seen you do.” 

Romeo shrugged, took Mercutio’s hand, and stared at their interlocked fingers. “I don’t know if it will get me anywhere. It didn’t get Master Jinn anything but derision.” 

“If it wasn’t for Master Jinn, Master Skywalker would never have been a Jedi.” 

“Don’t let Ben hear you speak such heresy,” Romeo said, trying to joke his way out of the sudden tight knot in his stomach. 

“We’ll bring Ben around eventually,” Mercutio said. 

Romeo was still looking at their joined hands. Masters were a rare commodity these days. Especially those who were willing to train a padawan, which was hard enough without fighting a war. _I’m too young to be knighted,_ he thought. What if there was no master for him? What if he was to be stuck at the Temple while his friends fought and, possibly, died? He couldn’t stand the thought. 

As though reading his mind, Mercutio said, “I heard there are several newly-freed masters. No one wants a brand new, eleven-twelve-year-old, unbloodied padawan right now. I’m sure you’ll find yourself off-planet and in some shithole in no time.”

Romeo almost laughed and gave Mercutio’s hand a small squeeze. “It’s not like I _like_ fighting, you know.”

“I know,” Mercutio said, quietly. They were silent for a long time, each lost in his own throughs. The sky was starting to grow a darker shade of blue-grey. “Romeo?” Mercutio said finally. “I think there’s something we should do.”

“What?”

“We should Force-bond. Like masters and padawans do.” 

Romeo looked over at him sharply. “I don’t think…I don’t think we’d be allowed. It would probably be seen as an attachment.” His mind still ached from the shattering of the bond with his master. Romeo simply wasn’t certain he would even be able to create a new bond so quickly. 

“Who cares?” Mercutio snapped. “Every time you’re out on mission I—”

“Die a little inside. I know. I do too.” Romeo forced himself to meet Mercutio’s eyes and let his mental shields down a little so Mercutio could feel that he was earnest. 

“Well if we’re bonded, we would always be able to find each other. We would always… As for attachment—” He let out a small, sarcastic laugh. “It’s too late. If I’m not attached to you, Romeo, then I don’t think I’ll ever be attached to anything or anyone.” 

Romeo swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. _Oh._

“But, no, listen, if you don’t feel the same—”

“Let’s do it,” Romeo blurted out before he could stop himself. He held out his freer hand for Mercutio to take as well. 

Mercutio looked at him for a moment, as though to confirm that he had heard right, then took Romeo’s hand. Romeo gnawed nervously on his lip. “I’m not sure I know how to do this. My master did all the real work when we bonded.”

“Same here. But let’s try.”

Romeo closed his eyes and reached into the Force. He could feel Mercutio doing the same. The calming currents of the Force swirled around him and slowed Romeo’s breathing, eased the racing of his heart. He wasn’t as good at this as Benvolio, but he was still a Jedi. Mercutio’s Force signature was before him, bright and painfully familiar. Romeo reached for it, probed around it, felt Mercutio doing the same. Romeo let down his shields completely and soon felt Mercutio do the same. 

A flood of emotions and awareness flowed through the Force between them. Romeo focused on Mercutio and Mercutio alone, letting the rest of the world fade away. They began to breath in rhythm with each other and Romeo reached out to prod at Mercutio’s Force signature, felt it begin to wrap slowly around his own. Romeo pushed forward, aware that their heartbeats were now beating in unison with each other as well. He could hear that combined heartbeat in his ears, feel it vibrating through his body. In the Force, Romeo folded his Force presence over Mercutio’s, intertwined the tentacles of light until they knotted around each other, melding them together. Romeo became increasingly aware that he could feel everything Mercutio felt and would probably hear every thought Mercutio had if their minds were not tranquilly blank in the meditative state. 

Romeo wasn’t sure when exactly they were meant to stop, so he let the Force guide him, tying his life force closer and closer to Mercutio’s until he felt as though they were a single whole, until their two Force signatures were so tightly bound it was impossible to understand where one ended and the other began. 

Then – there was a flash of light that resonated through Romeo’s entire body and consciousness, and the currents of the Force settled, the heightened feelings surrounding Romeo dulled, and he could clearly make out the boundaries of the new Force bond in his mind. 

They retreated and slowly opened their eyes to look at each other. 

“Wow…” Mercutio said, his tone saturated with genuine awe. 

Something about the bond felt strange to Romeo. It wasn’t quite like the one he had had with his master. With his master, he had always been able to shield almost completely if he really wanted to. With this new bond, though he could still shield, he could never quite shut Mercutio out entirely. Just a tap against his shields resonated with some emotional leakage into the Force. This seemed to go both ways. The way their signatures had melted together during the bonding also felt different than what Romeo remembered from bonding with his master – more intense, more complete. He had, it seemed, without truly meaning to, bound their entire life forces to each other, instead of creating a common Force bond. 

A cold sort of panic set into the bottom of Romeo’s stomach. “I don’t think this is what you wanted,” he said, flushing. “I’m sure it’s fixable. We can ask someone for help, we can say it was an accident—”

“Romeo, shut up. This Is _exactly_ what I want.” 

Romeo froze, stunned and reassured all at once. “It—it is?” He could feel the warmth radiating from Mercutio through the Force and an overwhelming tenderness suddenly enveloped him. 

Mercutio tugged on his hand and pulled him into a tight embrace. “it’s more than I could have ever hoped for.”


End file.
